Chapter 747 - 375: Shadow Alliance, Flame Prison City

Chapter 747: Chapter 375: Shadow Alliance, Flame Prison City

In the Fire Realm, all sorts of bizarre Demons appeared from time to time, much like the various Ice-type Demons that emerged in the Ice Realm.

Some Demons were enormous, like small mountains, emanating powerful auras. Others were agile and incredibly fast, making them difficult to track. And still others were formless, appearing and disappearing at will in an eerie fashion.

Cheng Zongyang knew his goal wasn’t to fight these Demons, but to reach his destination as quickly as possible.

Therefore, whenever he encountered a Demon, he would speed up and steer clear, trying his best not to attract its attention. Thanks to his robes, he traveled without being discovered or pestered by the native creatures. He wasn’t even attacked when he came face-to-face with them.

As time passed, Cheng Zongyang flew through the Fire Realm for several days and nights.

He hadn’t consumed much Spiritual Power along the way, as his Extraordinary Level adaptive Talent allowed him to easily withstand the high temperatures, and controlling the Soul Gathering Stele consumed Mental Power.

Whenever his Mental Power neared its limit, he would enter the Realm of Ten Thousand Races to recover. Once restored, he could continue flying for another two days. It was safe to say he could travel nonstop.

Finally, after flying continuously for several more days, Cheng Zongyang spotted a massive, lava-colored city in the distance.

The great city seemed to have risen straight from volcanic lava, and it exuded a dark, oppressive aura. Its walls shimmered with an eerie light, as if forged from countless coalesced flames. The city gate was tall and heavy, covered in mysterious runes and patterns that inspired both awe and fear.

Cheng Zongyang slowed down and cautiously approached the city.

He observed the people entering and exiting, noticing that they were all dressed in black robes with their faces concealed, and they all moved with a sense of urgency.

With his faint senses, he could feel powerful auras radiating from some of them. He would probe for a mere instant before withdrawing to avoid being noticed. These people were clearly Cultivators at Foundation Establishment or higher. After all, he himself was at the Foundation Establishment Middle Stage, so for someone to alarm him, their Cultivation had to be immense.

Others, however, seemed ordinary and made no effort to conceal their comings and goings.

Seeing that everyone entering and leaving the city wore black robes, he wondered if it was for concealment or if the robes offered protection from the heat. Regardless, no other colors were seen.

Cheng Zongyang grew wary. ’In a dangerous place like this, I have to keep a low profile to avoid unnecessary trouble. My purpose here is to find the location of the Spirit Vein, which means I’ll need to investigate.’

From the information he had gathered earlier, he knew this great city was called Flame Prison City.

Flame Prison City was an important stronghold in the Fire Realm, the headquarters of the Shadow Alliance, and their only city.

The environment here was extremely harsh. For the security of their headquarters, the Shadow Alliance had set up numerous Arrays outside the city, raising the temperature far beyond that of the surrounding areas without affecting the city itself. There was also poisonous gas, as well as Tier Three and even Tier Four Fire-type Demons.

It was because of these measures that most outside Cultivators stopped at the Fire Abyss. The bolder ones might cross it and venture dozens of miles deeper, but very few dared to go any further.

The main reason was that they didn’t want to run into the Shadow Alliance. That was why more Cultivators were willing to go to the Ice Realm instead of the Fire Realm.

After changing his robes to black, Cheng Zongyang prepared to enter the city.

After a short while, Cheng Zongyang locked onto a Cultivator who was leaving the city. Based on his aura, he seemed to be a Qi Cultivation Practitioner, which was a perfect match for his target profile.

A quarter of an hour later, far from Flame Prison City, Cheng Zongyang took out a Soul Gathering Stele. He snapped the neck of the Cultivator he had been tailing, and the man’s Divine Soul was instantly absorbed.

At that moment, Cheng Zongyang activated the Soul Gathering Stele’s Soul Realm Ability, stripping away the Cultivator’s memories and beginning to explore them in their entirety.

Half an hour later, Cheng Zongyang had a good understanding of the Cultivator and the situation in Flame Prison City. ’Of course, this is all based on the Cultivator’s own knowledge. I can’t be sure how much of it is accurate, but it’s enough for my purposes.’

He took the Cultivator’s body into the Hall of Ten Thousand Races and used a disguise technique to assume the man’s appearance, physique, and Cultivation aura.

Thus, he inherited the identity of a man named Tie Ling. This person’s identity was that of a Dark Blade Level assassin for the Shadow Alliance.

Within the Shadow Alliance, there were five assassin ranks: Ghost Shadow (Martial Artist), Dark Blade (Qi Cultivation), Nether Fire (Foundation Establishment), Soul Devourer (Golden Core), and Shadow King (Nascent Soul).

He tossed the body to the Ring Spirit as a sacrifice, then left the Hall and headed toward Flame Prison City.

’This time, my purpose is not only to take the Spirit Vein, but also to see the Dark Realm the Shadow Alliance has so staunchly protected, and to investigate their connection to the previous master.’

’The fact that they possess a treasure like the Black Death Secret Manual, a powerful Cultivation Technique—even if it’s only the first half—is enough to prove the Shadow Alliance had a connection to the previous master.’

Using the Identity Token he had acquired, Cheng Zongyang successfully entered Flame Prison City.

Just as in the memories, the outside looked like a world of blazing flames with poisonous gas filling the air, but the environment inside was completely different.

The environment here was normal, just like any other Immortal City. It had all the usual businesses. The only differences were the attire and the atmosphere.

As Cheng Zongyang walked down the street, he noted the grim, almost murderous atmosphere. Listening to the conversations of the merchants around him, he heard only direct, crisp price quotes and haggling. There were no superfluous words.

It seemed their occupational habits had led them to behave this way.

Cheng Zongyang slowly made his way toward the center of Flame Prison City.

In the Central Region stood a palace that covered a vast area. The palace was five stories tall.

Though not particularly tall, it was a place where everyone in Flame Prison City acted with reverence, a place no one dared to disrespect. It was the headquarters of the Shadow Alliance.

’Lin Changfeng once said the Dark Realm was at the core of the Shadow Alliance. Could it be underground?’ Cheng Zongyang wondered.

When he got near, Cheng Zongyang kept his expression and movements casual, sweeping his gaze over it as he passed by.

He saw a faint, arcane light flickering around the palace, a clear sign that it was protected by an Array. Cheng Zongyang didn’t linger and slowly left Flame Prison City.

’Overall, it’s pretty much as the memories described.’ Several miles outside the city, Cheng Zongyang stood atop a crimson Spirit Tree, gazing at Flame Prison City from afar.

Next, Cheng Zongyang began to investigate the location of the city’s Underground Spiritual Vein.

From Flame Prison City’s layout, guards, and Arrays, he knew that taking this Spirit Vein would be far more difficult than it had been with the Ji Family.

He began to patrol around Flame Prison City, probing and searching for any trace related to the Underground Spiritual Vein—such as its path, its general range, and the degree of Spiritual Qi leakage.

After seven days of various investigations, Cheng Zongyang had recorded a detailed set of data.

From these observations, Cheng Zongyang came to a conclusion. ’This underground Spirit Vein might be different from the ones outside.’

During his observations over this period, he noticed that in some places, hot steam would occasionally rise from the ground, and the surrounding plants grew with exceptional lushness. This steam, however, contained a higher concentration of Fire Spiritual Qi.

Cheng Zongyang guessed these spots might be related to the Underground Spiritual Vein.

To understand the situation better, Cheng Zongyang decided to take action. He needed to test if his guess was correct.

To avoid alerting Flame Prison City, he again chose not to use any Magic Techniques. Instead, he released a well-protected Mole Beast to start digging.

Under his command, two Mole Beasts began to excavate the soil. Because the ground was scorching hot, they were equipped with Magical Treasures for Fire Extinguishing and Cooling Down.

The Mole Beasts dug rapidly underground while Cheng Zongyang stood by, closely monitoring the surroundings.

「Three days passed in this manner.」

Cheng Zongyang tracked the underground heat, and the reactions from his Spirit Testing Stone guided him deeper and deeper, making him increasingly certain that even if this wasn’t the Spirit Vein itself, it was at least its periphery.

Next, he returned to the surface, camouflaged the entrance to the tunnel, and then continued tracking the direction of the Spirit Vein.

「Another two days went by.」

As Cheng Zongyang periodically checked his direction with his Divine Sense, he finally discovered a faint, almost imperceptible membrane of light.

Cheng Zongyang first recalled the two Mole Beasts into the Realm of Ten Thousand Races. After a brief inspection, he was somewhat surprised.

’Those crafty bastards. To think they’d place a Spirit Testing Restriction underground.’